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Why BSU isn't transparent about fees

MUNCIE – Ball State University says it would be too cumbersome to provide students billing statements that break down student services fees including how much they pay to support the 19 intercollegiate athletic teams.

There are other Mid American Conference schools that also don't itemize athletic fees on billing statements, but some at least share information about the fees if you search for it on their websites.

"We do not itemize items that make up student fees on our billing statements," said Dave Kielmeyer, a spokesman for Bowling Green State University. "However, detailed information on the university's budget, including how student fees are spent, is readily available on our website."

Athletic fees are prominently displayed on the same page as tuition at Northern Illinois University.

Representatives of MAC schools including Ball State point out that athletic fees are adopted at public meetings of boards of trustees.

But the $610 intercollegiate athletic fee is pooled into a mass of various other fees buried in a category called student services fees that are not itemized on billing statements or on the bursar's website.

Ball State is more transparent than many schools, BSU Treasurer Randy Howard told The Star Press in interviews before he left the university in mid August for another job. BSU officials say the university's position hasn't changed since those interviews. Ball State has not yet hired a new treasurer.

“We aim to strike a balance between transparency and providing succinct billing. We do our best to determine how much information is helpful to break out fees for transparency, and how much becomes a burden by creating overly complicated bills.”

Randy Howard

"Many schools simply roll all of their charges into one tuition number," Howard said. "We aim to strike a balance between transparency and providing succinct billing. We do our best to determine how much information is helpful to break out fees for transparency, and how much becomes a burden by creating overly complicated bills."

BSU does not itemize every fee because "the bill would quickly become very cumbersome," Howard said. "The student services fee itself supports at least 13 items, and basic tuition covers even more things."

Students and parents can always call the bursar's office to receive a more detailed explanation of any fee that is assessed, Howard said.

"That is BS and ... a copout," asserts David Ridpath, an associate professor of sports administration at Ohio University, co-editor of the Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics and a faculty fellow at the Center for College Affordability and Productivity. "Saying for students and parents to call the bursar is just silly."

"The reason it is not broken out is it is a cost that most people would be alarmed about and frankly do not know about," Ridpath told The Star Press. "I mean, listing 13 things on a bill is somehow impossible?"

'Get really extreme'

The athletics fee at Ball State isn't just any fee. It's the highest of all fees unless you are an architecture student or a nonnative speaker of English enrolled in the school's Intensive English Institute. The athletics fee at BSU might not be drawing attention if it were only $4.08, like the fee for the Arts Alive Concert Series, or the $17.82 fee for the alcohol-free Late Nite, "the best party on campus every Saturday night."

The tuition and fees page on Ball State's website shows the costs for tuition, two technology fees, a recreation center fee, a health center fee and room and board.

"For detailed cost information, such as special fees, review the tuition and fees area of the bursar's office website," the web page reports.

That links users to another location with information on fees for study abroad, laboratories, internships, student teaching, applications for graduation, late payments, late registration, returned checks, course fees, transcripts and others. But the intercollegiate athletics fee is lumped in the category "student services fees" that is not itemized.

Elsewhere on the bursar's website, says BSU spokeswoman Joan Todd, is an explanation of the student services fee under the FAQ section, the seventh question down from the top.

It reads: "The Student Services Fee helps support many events for students on campus. It includes the L.A. Pittenger Student Center and its programming, as well as athletic events and events at Emens Auditorium and other performing venues, which students may attend without additional charge. It also supports student groups, recreational activities, and debt payment on certain student facilities."

The university isn't trying to hide anything, Howard said, it's just that you have to draw the line somewhere.

"You can get really extreme on this," he said. "We take in money that gets divided up in thousands of ways. Athletics is one ... You could also break out how much goes to the library, performing arts, landscaping, maintenance, phone services, marketing. There are those who may say the library is a critical component that should be broken out. How far do you break it out?"

Howard added that the decision-making on not reporting athletic fees on either billing statements or online pre-dated him.

'We could consider it'

The University of Akron provides some information on its website about athletics fees, as does Kent State University, though not as much as Bowling Green or Northern Illinois.

For example, Kent State referred The Star Press to a website that merely reports that intercollegiate athletic fees make up 5.5 percent of all instructional and general fees. There are no dollar amounts showing how many dollars the athletic fees generate or how much they cost per student.

Akron referred The Star Press to a web page that merely states the general service fee provides funds that support student activities and services including health services, intramurals, student organizations and intercollegiate athletics.

At Western Michigan University, intercollegiate athletics is supported by general fund dollars (tuition and state appropriations), not student fees.

"I think it is safe to say that our students are aware that our athletic programs receive institutional support," WMU spokesman Cheryl Roland told The Star Press. "Like all public universities, our budget figures are publicly available and are frequently the subject of news coverage ... But in direct answer to your question, we do not offer a per-student breakdown of how much athletics or any other programs or initiatives cost on either billing statements or the web."

Asked why it would be too cumbersome to include a breakdown online of athletic and other student services fees, Howard said, "That's a good point. We could consider it. Information is always a good thing."